All Magic Tricks Revealed: 05/27/08

Selasa, 27 Mei 2008

Simple Magic: Mind Reader

I want you to mentally select anyone of these six cards at random. Have you've got it? Good! then memorize it, don't just look at the card. I want you to stare at it, whisper it's name (but not too loud, we don't want people to think you're nuts or something). Now remember the name of your card and don't forget it.

This is my pet fish, Violet. She may look like a angel fish but she's actually a shark... a shark card that is! Violet used to work at the blackjack table in Vegas, don't mess with her because she's always packing heat. When you're positive that you know your card click on Violet and she'll shuffle the card for you.

Optical Illusions 4

MARLENE
Can you find the portrait of Marlene's Dietrich? Mexican artist Octovio Ocampo created this charming scene of the famous 1940's film star.

ESCHER'S WATERFALL
Can water flow like this? No! If you follow the flow of the water, you will see that it flows downwards and into the dirt until it again reaches the furthest and lowest point, which is identical with its nearest and highest point.

UNLIKELY WINDOW
This still life of a man sitting on a window ledge by Belgian artist Jos De Mey incorporates impossible triangles. The man holding the cube is in homage to the man holding the impossible cube in M.C. Escher's "Belvedere".

ONE HEAD OR TWO?
Do you perceive one head or two profiles? This is a very nice example of an ambiguous illustration that "flip-flops" in meaning, giving either a single face partially obscured by the candlestick, or two faces in profile on either side of the candlestick. This is a variation on the vase illusion.

AN OLD OR A YOUNG WOMAN?
Can you find the profile of an old woman and a young woman? This well-known illusion dates back to the nineteenth century, when it first began to appear on puzzle trading cards.

THE FLOWERING OF LOVE
Can you find the lovers in the flowers? Look carefully at the petals of the rose; they form the outline of a kissing couple, or that of a single rose. Swiss artist Sandro Del Prete created this beautiful ambiguous illusion.

Optical Illusions 3

ESCHER'S BELVEDERE
What is wrong with the structure? This is the first impossible print created by the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, in 1958. The top floor appears normal, but is in fact perpendicular to the bottom floor: impossible!

BECKONING BALUSTRADE
Can you find the figures hiding in between the columns? This figure ground illusion is by Roger Shepard, and is a variation of the more famous "faces/vase" illusion.

MELANCHOLY TUNES ON A FLEMISH WINTER'S DAY
How does the column come forward? It can't. This is another impossible image, based on the original impossible triangle illusion by Roger Penrose.

BETWEEN ILLUSIONS AND REALITY
What is peculiar about the two openings?If your cover up the top half of the illustration, the scene is perfectly possible. Look at it all together, however, and suddenly it is a lot more difficult to get into the entrances than you might think!

THE IMPOSSIBLE TERRACE
Are you seeing the balcony from the bottom of the top? Both. This is an adaptation fo Sandro del Piero's "Folded Chess Set", where perspective from both above and below is given simultaneously.

L'EGISTENTIAL ELEPHANT
Will this elephant have difficulty walking?At first glance this elephant seems to have all its legs, but look closely: none of them are attached to its body! Roger Shepard created this variation of the "impossible fork" illusion.

Optical Illusions 2

VANITY

Can you see the skull? Charles Gilbert, an American magazine illustrator, created this classic illusion, entitled "All is Vanity", some time around 1905. It was a very popular motif that was imitated many times, including by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali.

MIRAGE

Where does the line of desert palm trees end, and the line of dromedaries begin? This Saharan scene was created by digital artist Alice Klarke.

SARA NADER

Can you find the face of the woman that the is serenading? This figure ground illusion is by Roger Shepard.

A MOUSE PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK WITH A CAT
Is the cat hiding from the mouse or the mouse hiding from the cat? This reversible photo illusion was created by digital artist Alice Klarke, based on an original drawing by artist Peter Brooks.

SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON
Can you find both a portrait of Saint George and a depiction of his slaying of the dragon? Look at Saint George's' hair to see the battle scene.

CORPORAL VIOLET
Can you find the three profiles (Napoleon, his wife and son) hidden between the leaves? This card, whose artist is unknown, originated around 1815.

Optical Illusions

Collection of fascinating optical illusions, many of which have never before been published in this form. From classic illustrations of impossible figures to drawings of everyday objects which turn out to be extraordinary to scintillating graphic patterns which pulsate and change before-your very eyes, the variety of different effects is almost endless!

A HIDDEN PORTRAIT IN A STILL LIFE OF VEGETABLES

Do you perceive a face or a collection of fruit? This is Giuseppe Arcimboldo's classic portrait of the Emperor Rudolph II.

JASTROW'S DUCK/RABBIT ILLUSIONS

This is one of the most famous and classic of all illusion, which was created by the American psychologist Joseph Jastrow in 1888. Depending upon how you view the image, you can perceive either a rabbit or a duck.

VISION OF DON QUIXOTE

How many hidden faces can you find? There are several hidden faces in this illustration of the classic Cervantes character, but the main scene is ambiguous with a portrait of Don Quixote and his faithful servant Sancho Panza.

THE MYSTERIOUS LIPS
Do you perceive the face? The Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali, who was fascinated by ambiguous imagery, entitles this scene "The Mysterious Lips that Appeared on the Back of my Nurse", painted in 1941.

ANGELS
Can you find both the heads and bodies of angels? The head and hand of the large angel contain the bodies of four smaller angels.